Battle of Mucojo

Last updated
Battle of Mucojo
Part of the Insurgency in Cabo Delgado
MilitaryinMucojo.jpg
Mozambican military in Mucojo
Date22 April 2021 - 29 October 2021
Location
Result Mozambique Victory [1]
Belligerents
Flag of Mozambique.svg  Mozambique
Flag of Rwanda.svg  Rwanda [2]
anti-Islamist militants   Islamic State
Al-Shabab
Commanders and leaders
Unknown Unknown Ali  (POW) [1]
Casualties and losses
12+ civilians killed [3]

The Battle of Mucojo was a military engagement between unidentified anti-Islamist militants, Islamic State affiliates, and the Mozambique Defence Armed Forces in the coastal town of Mucojo during the Insurgency in Cabo Delgado. It started on 22 April 2021 when anti-Islamist militants took control of Mucojo and nearby villages including Lumumua. [4] The militants started a killing spree near Mucojo after the Mozambique Army retook many villages near Mucojo. [5]

Battle

On 22 April 2021, militants took and occupied the town of Mucojo and Pangane with the Mozambican military retaking the towns. [6] The village had been sieged by Mozambican and Rwandan troops since May 2021 [2]

On 28 August, militants of a unknown group raided and re-occupied the town of Mucojo. Reports came that the town and a nearby village were captured, with the Mozambique military confirming the claim. The militants were identified as anti-Islamic as they beheaded an Islamic imam. [7] The militants continued to kill civilians and behead fisherman. [5] Members of ISIL and Al-Shabab, attacked Mucojo and killed most of the anti-Islamic militants in Mucojo and the nearby town of Quiterajo. [8] The town's mayor was later killed by the Islamist militants with him being beheaded. [5] The Mozambique army later retook the village, but it was recaptured by the Islamist militants when Al-Shabab members retreated from Tanzania to Mucojo. [9] Militants later burned the village down, with 164 houses destroyed. [10]

On 9 September, militants raided and occupied Oluma, a village near Mucojo. The island of Vamize was also occupied by militants, off the shore of Mucojo. [11]

On 30 September and throughout 8 October, militants had fully occupied all of the villages nearby Mucojo. [12] On 26 October, militants in Mucojo started an offensive into southern Tanzania. [13] On 29 October, Mozambican and Rwandan forces captured all of Mucojo, ending the occupation. [1]

By 2022, unrest continued in Mucojo, with incidents of looting being reported. [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cabo Delgado Province</span> Province of Mozambique

Cabo Delgado is the northernmost province of Mozambique. It has an area of 82,625 km2 (31,902 sq mi) and a population of 2,320,261 (2017). As well as bordering Mtwara Region in the neighboring country of Tanzania, it borders the provinces of Nampula and Niassa. The region is an ethnic stronghold of the Makonde tribe, with the Makua and Mwani as leading ethnic minorities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palma, Mozambique</span> Town in Mozambique

Palma is a town on the northeast coast of Mozambique's Cabo Delgado Province. Less than 32 kilometres (20 mi) away is the border with Mtwara Region of Tanzania to the north and north-west.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mocímboa da Praia</span> Place in Cabo Delgado Province, Mozambique

Mocímboa da Praia is a port town in northern Mozambique, lying on the Indian Ocean coast, in Cabo Delgado Province. It is used as a border post for travel to and from Tanzania even though it is 127 km from the border by road. It is the seat of Mocímboa da Praia District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Insurgency in Cabo Delgado</span> Armed conflict in Cabo Delgado Province, Mozambique

The insurgency in Cabo Delgado is an ongoing Islamist insurgency in Cabo Delgado Province, Mozambique, mainly fought between militant Islamists and jihadists attempting to establish an Islamic state in the region, and Mozambican security forces. Civilians have been the main targets of terrorist attacks by Islamist militants. The main insurgent faction is Ansar al-Sunna, a native extremist faction with tenuous international connections. From mid-2018, the Islamic State's Central Africa Province has allegedly become active in northern Mozambique as well, and claimed its first attack against Mozambican security forces in June 2019. In addition, bandits have exploited the rebellion to carry out raids. As of 2020, the insurgency intensified, as in the first half of 2020 there were nearly as many attacks carried out as in the whole of 2019.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al-Shabaab (Mozambique)</span> Islamist militant group active in Cabo Delgado Province, Mozambique

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The Central Africa Province is an administrative division of the Islamic State (IS), a Salafi jihadist militant group and unrecognised quasi-state. As a result of a lack of information, the foundation date and territorial extent of the Central Africa Province are difficult to gauge, while the military strength and activities of the province's affiliates are disputed. The Central Africa Province initially covered all IS activities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Mozambique. In September 2020, during the insurgency in Cabo Delgado, IS-CAP shifted its strategy from raiding to actually occupying territory, and declared the Mozambican town of Mocímboa da Praia its capital. After this point, however, the Mozambican branch declined and was split off from IS-CAP in 2022, becoming a separate IS province.

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The Mocímboa da Praia offensive was a six day long offensive in northern Mozambique by Islamic State's Central African Province (IS-CAP) to capture the town of 30,000. The offensive, part of the insurgency in Cabo Delgado, was a major success for IS-CAP, as they captured Mocímboa da Praia.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Palma</span> Battle for the control of Palma in Mozambique

The Battle of Palma or the Battle for Palma was fought during late March and early April 2021 over control of the city of Palma in Mozambique, between the Mozambique Defence Armed Forces, other Mozambican security forces and private military contractors on one side, and Islamist rebels reportedly associated with the Islamic State (IS) on another side. The Islamists invaded the city, killing dozens of people before Mozambique regained control days later. Palma was left destroyed, and a major oil and gas company decided to suspend all operations in the area due to the battle. Researchers have described the battle as an overall success for the insurgents. The rebels also maintained their presence in the town's surroundings, and continued to raid Palma in the following weeks. The battle was part of the insurgency in Cabo Delgado, which started in 2017 and has resulted in the deaths of thousands of people, mainly local civilians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Cabo Delgado offensives</span>

From July to November 2021, the Mozambique Defence Armed Forces (FADM) and Rwanda Defence Force (RDF), and belligerents from Southern African Development Community (SADC) states, conducted offensives in Cabo Delgado Province, Mozambique, against local rebels loyal to the Islamic State's Central Africa Province (IS-CAP). The first offensive succeeded in retaking the important town of Mocímboa da Praia which had previously fallen to rebels as a result of the insurgency in Cabo Delgado.

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Mucojo is a town in Macomia District in Cabo Delgado Province, Mozambique. It has been the site of the heaviest and worst fighting of the Insurgency in Cabo Delgado.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Mbau</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Mocímboa da Praia</span>

On June 27, 2020, jihadists from al-Shabaab raided the city of Mocímboa da Praia in the Cabo Delgado Province of Mozambique. Al-Shabaab fighters attacked the city following brutal crackdowns against civilians by the Mozambican government, and in their attacks, destroyed homes and killed more civilians. A Mozambican counteroffensive aided by South African mercenaries of the Dyck Advisory Group renewed fighting in the city, with the mercenaries being criticized for their indiscriminate shooting of civilians.

On October 15, 2020, militants from Al-Shabaab, the Islamic State – Central Africa Province's branch in Mozambique, launched an incursion into the village of Kitaya in Mtwara Region, Tanzania, the group's first claimed attack in Tanzania. At least twenty civilians were killed in the massacre.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Forças moçambicanas anunciam captura de líder terrorista | DW | 18.01.2022". DW.COM.
  2. 1 2 "CrisisWatch: May Alerts and April Trends 2022". 30 April 2022.
  3. "Africa File: Political instability threatens counterterrorism gains in Maghreb, Sahel, and Horn". Critical Threats.
  4. "Cabo Delgado: População encontra corpos decapitados | DW | 25.10.2021". DW.COM.
  5. 1 2 3 "Mozambique: Armed Groups Burn Villages". June 19, 2018.
  6. "Mozambique Insurgency: Close-up Map of Control in April 2021".
  7. "Cabo Delgado: Grupo armado mata quatro pescadores | DW | 08.02.2022". DW.COM.
  8. "Mozambique Access Snapshot - Cabo Delgado Province - February 2022 [EN/PT] - Mozambique | ReliefWeb". reliefweb.int.
  9. Morier-Genoud, Eric (February 24, 2019). "How a local Mozambique Islamic group became Africa's latest terror threat". Quartz.
  10. "Cabo Delgado: "Há uma relutância em partilhar inteligência militar" | DW | 17.12.2021". DW.COM.
  11. "Mozambican island and village attacked by insurgents". TimesLIVE.
  12. "Ataques na primeira semana de outubro deixam cerca de 20 mortos em Cabo Delgado". VOA.
  13. "Cabo Delgado: Insurgentes encurralados atacam agora o sul da Tanzânia | DW | 26.10.2021". DW.COM.
  14. "Mozambique Access Snapshot - Cabo Delgado Province - April 2022 [EN/PT] - Mozambique | ReliefWeb". reliefweb.int.